Need suggestion for buying lens

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right section to start this thread.

I have a 100-400 II lens and I use it for bird photography. My wife is also interested in bird photography and she is better than me. So she too needs a lens with same or better reach.

I am planning to buy her a lens that is not similar to the 100-400 II. Something different for bird photography which I too can use when I go out alone. I cannot afford more than 1500. Need your help in this.

She is interested in the sigma 150-600 Contem but I am little skeptical in buying that.

The Sigma is nice and I have friends that love theirs. My experience is with the Tamron 150-600 v1 and I loved the lens. They now have a version 2 in your price range. Can't go wrong with either in your budget.

TomCruise06 wrote in post #18418829
Hi,

Not sure if this is the right section to start this thread.

I have a 100-400 II lens and I use it for bird photography. My wife is also interested in bird photography and she is better than me. So she too needs a lens with same or better reach.

I am planning to buy her a lens that is not similar to the 100-400 II. Something different for bird photography which I too can use when I go out alone. I cannot afford more than 1500. Need your help in this.

She is interested in the sigma 150-600 Contem but I am little skeptical in buying that.

Heya,

The Sigma 150-600C or the Tamron 150-600 are great, very good for perched and general birds (not great for close range really fast birds, like swallows, terns, etc; but great for big lumbering birds, or distant birds, like heron, hawk, eagles, perched song birds, etc).

So it depends on what kind of bird photography and what species and how close you're getting.

With $1500, you could hunt a used 300 F2.8L non-IS which would be a killer lens for it, with TC options. But you of course take the gamble of it being old and out of service. Still a killer lens.

I use a 300 F4L IS for the close range and fast in flight stuff.
I use a 150-600 Tamron for the big stuff, slow stuff, distant stuff and perched stuff.
I'd trade them both for a 300 F2.8L IS if I could!
Only reason I don't bring up the old 400 F2.8L non-IS is because it's just too heavy and I'd not want to lug it around (13lbs!).

But being more reasonable, again, the 150-600 series from Tamron & Sigma are good for cheap reach. Otherwise, there are 300mm F4L flavors to explore if you want a fast prime that isn't too costly (and it takes TC's great). But if reach is your concern, just go for a 150-600.

Very best,

In Denmark a lot of birders are using Canon´s 400mm, f5,6, some of them even with TC 1,4 depending on their camera´s ability to use AF in F8...., and they get some great results. It is pin sharp and in my opinion far better than 100-400 mrk I..., and close to equal with mrk II...! I don´t know anything about prizes in your area, but SIGMA, 500mm, f4 would also be a good choice if you can find a used one in good condition.

I second the canon 400 5.6 prime. it's sharp and fast. Doesn't have image stabilization so keep that in mind.

Thank you so much to each one of you for your time and effort to help me out. I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately, things took a turn now. My wife snatched my 80D and the 100-400 II for her use and asked me to buy something else for myself.

She, being more creative in photography, I feel it is justified for her to use than me using it.

But, at the same time, I do not want to settle with something lower in IQ and performance compared to that combo(something better) for Bird and Wildlife photography. I know I am confused a lot at this moment because I did not expect this from my wife.

My idea -

For Body: 7D Mark II,

For Lens: Canon 400mm f/5.6 + 1.4x III (or) Sigma 150-600 Contemporary

Thank you for all your help.